Aqua Raiders
Aqua Raiders was one of LEGO's new themes for 2007. The theme comprised of seven sets as it lasted for only a limited matter of time, ranging from a small Deep Sea Treasure Hunter to a very large Aqua Base. Details was reminiscent of the older Divers sets.]] Aqua Raiders was one of the latest in a long line of underwater themes that goes back to 1995 when Aquazone was introduced. Unlike Aquazone, which was exclusively futuristic, Aqua Raiders was more reminiscent of a mix of that theme and Divers from 1997, a Town subtheme that featured present-day divers that went on underwater treasure hunts and explored the sea. Unlike their predecessors, the divers of Aqua Raiders were only seeking treasure. The background story reveals that the theme is set in the Bermuda Triangle, where the divers utilize high-tech submarines and other special equipment to look for the lost treasure of an ancient king. Most of the sets followed a common scheme. They contained the Aqua Raiders with a vessel of some kind, a segment of seafloor where a treasure was hidden and also a monstrous sea creature that stood between the divers and their loot. Other than those sea monsters, the sets did not include many other creatures. It is possible that the divers were searching for Atlantis and came very close to finding it, since the Diver Skeleton in the Portal of Atlantis set has an Aqua Raiders helmet and in LEGO Atlantis: The Movie, they are on a mission to salvage a sub that turns out to be the Crab Crusher set. Vehicles and equipment The Aqua Raiders have a variety of weapons and vehicles, which, according to the Aqua Raiders website, is the latest technology developed for underwater exploration. Some of the subs were reminiscent of older LEGO vessels. Among them were two mini-submarines (included in 7775 Aquabase Invasion and 7776 The Shipwreck), which were slightly similar to the subs from Divers, a large submarine which essentially resembled a Creator set but had a more spacious and detailed interior, and a sleek combat-submarine, which shared some design traits with the subs from Alpha Team Mission Deep Sea. The complement of vehicles also comprised an underwater rover with robot arms and several scooters. The diving gear (helmets, scuba-tanks and flippers) was the same that already appeared in Divers ten years earlier, with different colours. The same applies to the handheld harpoon guns. The subs and the base were equipped with spring-loaded guns that shot rubber-tipped projectiles. Minifigures :Main article: Aqua Raider (minifigure) The Aqua Raiders minifigures used unique torso pieces that were printed on both the front and the back. They also had black helmets printed with a blue trident on the top. There were four different heads used for the minifigs, and all of them had already appeared in earlier themes, such as Mars Mission. Sets See also * Aquazone (1995-1998) * Divers (Town subtheme; 1997-1998) * Alpha Team: Mission Deep Sea (2002) * Atlantis (2010-2011) Category:Themes Category:Aqua Raiders Category:Underwater themes Category:Themes introduced in 2007 Category:Discontinued Themes